diff --git a/drivers/nvme/target/pci-epf.c b/drivers/nvme/target/pci-epf.c
index 44288d8f5aa1..2e78397a7373 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/target/pci-epf.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/target/pci-epf.c
@@ -1242,8 +1242,11 @@ static void nvmet_pci_epf_queue_response(struct nvmet_req *req)
 
 	iod->status = le16_to_cpu(req->cqe->status) >> 1;
 
-	/* If we have no data to transfer, directly complete the command. */
-	if (!iod->data_len || iod->dma_dir != DMA_TO_DEVICE) {
+	/*
+	 * If the command failed or we have no data to transfer, complete the
+	 * command immediately.
+	 */
+	if (iod->status || !iod->data_len || iod->dma_dir != DMA_TO_DEVICE) {
 		nvmet_pci_epf_complete_iod(iod);
 		return;
 	}
@@ -1604,8 +1607,13 @@ static void nvmet_pci_epf_exec_iod_work(struct work_struct *work)
 		goto complete;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * If nvmet_req_init() fails (e.g., unsupported opcode) it will call
+	 * __nvmet_req_complete() internally which will call
+	 * nvmet_pci_epf_queue_response() and will complete the command directly.
+	 */
 	if (!nvmet_req_init(req, &iod->sq->nvme_sq, &nvmet_pci_epf_fabrics_ops))
-		goto complete;
+		return;
 
 	iod->data_len = nvmet_req_transfer_len(req);
 	if (iod->data_len) {
@@ -1643,10 +1651,11 @@ static void nvmet_pci_epf_exec_iod_work(struct work_struct *work)
 
 	wait_for_completion(&iod->done);
 
-	if (iod->status == NVME_SC_SUCCESS) {
-		WARN_ON_ONCE(!iod->data_len || iod->dma_dir != DMA_TO_DEVICE);
-		nvmet_pci_epf_transfer_iod_data(iod);
-	}
+	if (iod->status != NVME_SC_SUCCESS)
+		return;
+
+	WARN_ON_ONCE(!iod->data_len || iod->dma_dir != DMA_TO_DEVICE);
+	nvmet_pci_epf_transfer_iod_data(iod);
 
 complete:
 	nvmet_pci_epf_complete_iod(iod);